Written Answers Thursday 13 January 2011

Scottish Executive

Audiology

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the next meeting of the Audiology Services Advisory Group will be held.

Shona Robison: The next meeting of the Audiology Services Advisory Group will take place on 9 February 2011.

Defence

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) financial and (b) other support it has given or offered to the Moray Task Force to assist the campaign to retain the RAF bases at Lossiemouth and Kinloss.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has not provided direct financial support to the campaign to retain the Moray bases. Scottish Government ministers and officials have worked very closely with the task force and other public sector partners to ensure the best outcome for Scotland. In addition, we are taking steps to address the impact of the planned closure of Kinloss. The First Minister announced a £300,000 package of skills and training support for Moray on 22 December 2010. This will provide alternative training opportunities for individuals made redundant or at threat of redundancy following the announcements made in the Ministry of Defence Strategic Defence and Security Review. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the Moray Task Force to respond effectively to the planned withdrawal of the RAF from Kinloss and to ensure that robust representations are made to the UK Government for securing the future of RAF Lossiemouth.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what investigations have taken place of the option of elective time in the school week for (a) vocational opportunities and (b) arts, community volunteering or sport.

Michael Russell: Decisions on elective time in the school week for specific learning activities are the responsibility of curriculum planners at the local level.

  Building the Curriculum 3: A framework for learning and teaching supports curriculum planning at the local level, providing a framework within which schools and their partners have autonomy and responsibility for planning a programme which meets the needs of each learner. It sets out the experiences which contribute to learning and expectations on outcomes for young people, rather than detailed definitions of prescribed hours of study. However, the framework does stress the expectation that young people are entitled to two hours of quality physical education per week.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-14190 by Maureen Watt on 25 June 2008, what further action has been taken to encourage global citizenship in schools and ensure that children’s education has a European and international dimension.

Michael Russell: Since June 2008, considerable progress has been made to encourage global citizenship in schools and ensure that children’s education has an European and international dimension. Global citizenship is encouraged and promoted in a variety of ways and many outstanding examples of practice are detailed in HM Inspectorate of Education’s guide, International Education: Responsible, Global  Citizens, published on 4 February 2010.

  Global citizenship is now fully embedded across the curriculum and ensures that our young people are ready to play a full and active part in society - politically, socially, economically, environmentally and culturally. Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) and partners have provided a range of support materials, resources and continuing professional development opportunities for this work.

  The Year of Homecoming in 2009 successfully used Scotland’s history, culture and heritage to enable young people to build a sense of pride in their identity and develop an understanding of Scotland’s place in an increasingly globalised world. Global citizenship is also being encouraged as part of the Commonwealth Games Legacy for Scotland.

  The Scottish Government continues its support for the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (SCILT). SCILT provides continuing professional development opportunities for all languages practitioners and works in conjunction with other bodies, such as the Scottish European Education Trust and cultural organisations, to promote European language and culture learning and teaching.

  LTS is also promoting a knowledge of Chinese language and culture through the development of the Confucius Classroom Hub programme, of which there are now 10 hubs covering 15 local authorities.

Employment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when support measures for the local community and businesses in Moray will be announced.

Jim Mather: An initial £300,000 package of skills and training support was announced on 22 December 2010. This investment will help ensure that people across Moray have the opportunity to re-train and develop the new skills that can help them find sustained, productive employment in the area. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the Moray Task Force to ensure an effective response to the planned withdrawal of the RAF from Kinloss and to continue to make robust representations to the UK Government for securing the future of RAF Lossiemouth.

Finance

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Investment Bank is open for business.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) is open for business and currently operating as a division of Scottish Enterprise. In the year to 31 March 2010, the SIB’s existing equity funds have invested a total of £32 million in 106 businesses, leveraging a further £68 million in support from private sector investors.

  Details on the SIB and current products can be accessed via the Scottish Enterprise website.

Housing

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new affordable homes it could build with £2.3 billion.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Investment Programme funds housing for rent and low cost home ownership. Based on the grant requirements from our 2009-10 programme, it is estimated that around 35,000 new homes could be built with £2.3 billion.

Justice

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what contact it has had with the Government of Libya regarding Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in the last six months and for what purpose.

Kenny MacAskill: There has been contact between Scottish Government officials and Libyan Government officials on a number of matters, including the supervision of Mr Al-Megrahi’s licence under section 3 of the Prisons and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993, and the anniversary of his release on compassionate grounds.

Justice

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what reports it has received in the last three months regarding the health of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi from (a) Libyan sources and (b) East Renfrewshire Council.

Kenny MacAskill: East Renfrewshire Council has sent copies of Mr Al-Megrahi’s monthly medical reports to Scottish Government officials, covering October, November and December 2010. These reports are prepared by Libyan medical personnel.

Local Government Finance

Nicol Stephen (Aberdeen South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing a floor to the local government funding formula so that no local authority receives less than 90% of the average allocation per head.

John Swinney: The distribution formula for the 2011-12 local government finance settlements has already been agreed with COSLA. It includes a floor to limit the year-on-year change in councils’ allocations. The change suggested would cost around £120 million a year to implement and that would either have to be found by cutting funding to other councils or by reducing budgets of other portfolios. However, we are always open to suggestions for improving the formula as part of the consultation process for future settlements.

Police

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which police forces have set targets for the issuing of fixed penalty notices.

Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is not held centrally.

Prison Service

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to ensure effective independent monitoring of prisons.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government will consult formally over the next few months on the best and most effective way of providing independent monitoring of prisons across Scotland.

  The consultation will be launched on 14 January 2011.

  A copy of the document will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 52280).

Rail Services

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what average annual percentage of trains run on time between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street stations.

Keith Brown: The passenger charter punctuality measure for the Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street route is trains arriving within 10 minutes of the timetabled arrival. For the year to March 2010 95.8% of trains arrived on time or within 10 minutes and for the nine rail periods from April 2010 to mid December 2010 94.9% arrived on time or within 10 minutes.

Rail Services

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the frequency of updates from First ScotRail regarding the number of train services running in December 2010 as a result of the cold weather conditions.

Keith Brown: The provision of timely and accurate information by ScotRail and Network Rail is essential. We welcome the independent review commissioned by the Office of Rail Regulation into passenger information during disruption and will want the industry to ensure the recommendations from this are fully implemented.

Renewable Energy

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive at what temperatures large-scale onshore wind turbines are unable to operate.

Jim Mather: Turbine selection is a matter for developers and technical information on the parameters within which specific models are designed to operate is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. This may vary from model to model. Turbine manufacturers can generally supply this information on request. It should be noted that large wind turbines have been deployed successfully in cold climates including Alaska.

Renewable Energy

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact prolonged and severe wintry weather, including snow and ice, has on onshore wind turbines performance.

Jim Mather: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government, which does not monitor the performance of individual wind turbines. Energy statistics for the United Kingdom are collated and published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Research into wind energy in cold climates has been carried out by the International Energy Agency and suggests that severe wintry weather has only a minimal impact on the performance of appropriately designed turbines.

Road Safety

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what statutory responsibilities Transport Scotland has for road safety and under what legislation.

Keith Brown: Local roads authorities, and Transport Scotland, have a statutory duty to manage and maintain all roads within their area. For Transport Scotland, this responsibility is for the trunk road network. The statutory duty is outlined in Section 1 of the Roads Scotland Act 1984 and these duties are intrinsic to the overall road safety effort.

Roads

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what levels of salt and grit are in storage in each local authority area.

Keith Brown: The salt stocks in each road authority are being monitored by the Scottish Salt Group during the winter. As at 11 January 2011, the stocks recorded in each local authority and trunk road operating company are noted in the following table:

  

Council / Trunk Road Operating Company
Current Stock in Tonnes at 11 January 2011


Aberdeen City
1,628


Aberdeenshire
1,703


Angus
2,563


Argyll And Bute 
2,741


City Of Edinburgh
1,721


Clackmannanshire
601


Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)
100


Dumfries and Galloway
2,428


Dundee City
580


East Ayrshire
2,155


East Dunbartonshire
2,808


East Lothian
928


East Renfrewshire
743


Falkirk Council
1,149


Fife
3,386


Glasgow City
2,305


Highland
11,285


Inverclyde
1,205


Midlothian
2,385


Moray
3,600


North Ayrshire
1,272


North Lanarkshire
2,615


Orkney Islands
2,048


Perth and Kinross
3,171


Renfrewshire
673


Scottish Borders 
1,110


Shetland Isles
3,223


South Ayrshire
929


South Lanarkshire
3,024


Stirling
1,245


West Dunbartonshire
1,832


West Lothian
2,608


Sub Total
69,764


Trunk Road South West (Amey)
751


Trunk Road North West (Transerve) 
2,788


Trunk Road South East (Bear)
940


Trunk Road North East (Bear)
2,800


Trunk Road M6 DBFO
736.5


Trunk Road M77 DBFO
338


Sub Total
8,354


Total
78,118

Roads

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it provides to local authorities regarding the amount of salt and grit that they should keep in storage.

Keith Brown: Individual local authorities are responsible for setting their own policy regarding the amount of salt and grit that they should keep in storage.

  The report by the Scottish Salt Group recommended that all local authorities should ensure they had adequate salt supplies before the onset of winter. A copy of this report can be found on the Transport Scotland website at:

  http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/strategy-and-research/publications-and-consultations/j13001-00.htm.

Roads

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost has been of deploying salt and grit between 29 November and 8 December 2010, broken down by local authority area.

Keith Brown: This information is not held centrally.

Schools

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it provides to local authorities regarding their policies on opening schools during cold weather conditions.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government has not issued guidelines on matters which are best judged and decided locally. In a letter of 2 December 2010 to Directors of Education, I drew local authorities’ attention to areas of good practice regarding such decisions. A copy of the letter is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 52270).

  It is for schools and/or authorities to decide on the opening or closure of schools, in consideration of the health and safety of staff and pupils, in light of locally prevailing or forecast conditions.

Weather

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the army was first called in to deal with the consequences of the recent poor weather conditions.

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many army personnel were involved in assisting motorists stranded on the (a) M8, (b) M73 and (c) M80 on 6 December 2010.

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many army vehicles were used to deal with matters arising from the severe weather conditions between 29 November and 8 December 2010.

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of involving the army in assisting with the severe weather conditions between 29 November and 8 December 2010.

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authority areas made use of the army during the period of poor weather between 29 November and 8 December 2010.

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what activities the army carried out to assist with the poor weather conditions between 29 November and 8 December 2010.

Kenny MacAskill: The armed forces have made a valuable contribution to Scotland’s winter resilience, assisting a number of Scottish communities during the recent period of severe weather. Whilst the Scottish Government assisted responder organisations by providing them with guidance on the process to be followed in making a request for military assistance, requests were not made by the Scottish Government and the assistance itself was approved by the UK Government. Therefore, the information sought is not held by the Scottish Government and is a matter for the UK Government.

Weather

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many army personnel were involved in assisting with the severe weather conditions between 29 November and 8 December 2010.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held by the Scottish Government. It is a matter for the UK Government.

Weather

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what emergency planning simulation exercises were undertaken by (a) transport planning authorities and (b) the NHS following the difficulties and disruption caused by bad weather in the winter of 2009-10.

Kenny MacAskill: Individual responder organisations are responsible for training and preparing their own staff, and therefore information on emergency planning simulation exercises carried out by transport planning authorities and the NHS is not held centrally.

  The Scottish Government does however provide (largely through the Scottish Resilience Development Service) multi-agency training and exercising opportunities for responders. Scottish emergency planning and response is based on the principles of integrated emergency management which focuses on the effects of events rather than their causes. Since 1 February 2010, the Scottish Resilience Development Service has co-ordinated numerous training events and exercises for responders, which will support agencies in planning for, and responding to, to a range of major incidents (including adverse weather) and their consequences.

Weather

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what responsibilities householders or businesses have to clear ice, snow or other blockages from footpaths.

Kenny MacAskill: There is no law preventing householders and businesses from clearing ice and snow or other blockages from public footpaths. While there is no legal responsibility for them to do so, we would encourage people to take this kind of practical step to contribute to the winter resilience of their communities.